NEWCASTLE Eagles will go into the New Year with their dreams of retaining all four National BBL titles intact after a comfortable win in Durham last night.

Eagles were never behind and at one stage were up by 32, showing their quality at both ends of the floor to make head coach Fab Flournoy a happy man.

Flournoy sat out the game as he rested a knee injury picked up in training, but he was on the sidelines coaching for the full 40 minutes and was pleased with his players’ efforts.

He said: “We got the win and played really well for periods of the game. We shot the basketball pretty well throughout, so I have to be happy.

“I take my hat off to Durham, they ran us pretty close in that third quarter and you always stay concerned when your playing a team that can come from behind like they can.

“They’ve done it a few times and only last week against London were down by 11 points going into the last two minutes and got the win.

“They shoot the three-point shot really well and, to be honest, we don’t always play well against them as they force us in to playing in positions we don’t want to.

“With the teams being so close, it’s always hard coming here as they see it as their cup final.

“I was happy with the way our big guys played, Defoe and Maddox who had big games for us inside and the way our guards Chapman and Huffman controlled the game, meaning the combination of our guard play and forward play was in sync throughout.”

That’s a fair assessment from Flournoy.

His side went out well and matched Durham’s energy and then started converting at both ends to move into a 26-12 lead after the first. Chapman was in the groove and Defoe was scoring freely with Maddox a monster on the boards.

By half-time the Eagles had increased their lead to 48-30 and it looked ominous for The Wildcats. However with Ralph Bucci pulling the strings and Mike Baldarelli knocking down shots they managed to cut Newcastle’s lead to nine points at one stage.

But the returning Charles Smith then found his range after looking understandably rusty in the first half and Maddox started scoring from every-where to back up Defoe.

The Eagles steadied the ship and then sailed away into calmer waters, leaving the Wildcats floundering.

Flournoy added: “Charles is getting back and trying to get his fitness back.

“He looked good in the end, his attention to detail on the defensive end was a step or two short but I’m sure he’ll get that sorted and its great to have him back in the team and to get him ready for the Cup Final.”

That’s the next big game for the Eagles who go into the New Year as league leaders and in the quarter-finals of the Trophy.

Things look as if they are going to plan.

“We are where we want to be at this stage of the season. But taking that quote from that famous film Any Given Sunday, at any time in any game in the BBL things can go horribly wrong,” said Flournoy.

“So, we have to stay focused, we have to stay sharp and we have to prepare to be ready for the rest of the season.”